Sticking to a regular mowing schedule is the best way to keep your yard looking pristine all summer long. However, sometimes the weather doesn’t want to cooperate with us and leaves us with the choice of waiting for better weather or mowing wet grass. Neither one of these options are ideal but there are some things to consider before you mow wet grass.
Challenges of Mowing Wet Grass
As most lawn enthusiasts know, mowing wet grass can be not only challenging but damaging for your yard and equipment. There are several issues that you may run into if you’re forced to mow after heavy rain.
Clogging/Clumping
One of the main difficulties of this is clogging or clumping of grass in the mower. This makes progress slow as you continuously have to stop to clean out your mower.
Soggy Soil
When there’s been heavy rain, excess water can collect along the surface of the soil. This leaves soggy ground, and our mowers can often leave unsightly tracks behind.
Spreads Disease and Weeds
Wet grass is also more likely to spread any diseases or weeds to the rest of our lawn. This can leave us with more work to clean up our yards once the rain stops.
Tips for Mowing Wet Grass
Although mowing grass after rain isn’t ideal, there are certain instances in which we have no other choice. So, for those times, here are a few tips to follow to get the best cut even with wet grass.
Mow More Frequently
The first tip is to mow more frequently. This means that grass doesn’t grow as tall which makes it easier to cut even if it’s wet. This is a great thing to do especially if you know that rainy weather is coming and is going to stick around for a while.
Sharpen Blades
Sharp blades are always important when mowing your lawn. This is even more true if grass is wet. Wet grass tends to shred rather than cut smoothly. These jagged cuts give a less than perfect finish once dry. Although this isn’t something that can be entirely avoided, sharpened blades perform better on wet grass then those that are dull.
Raise Mower Deck
Another way to get a better cut is to raise the mower deck. It’s recommended that if you’re going to be mowing wet grass you should raise the mowing deck at least three to four inches from the soil. This means you’re cutting less off of each blade and it’s less likely to clump and clog your mower.
Side Discharge
Mowers that automatically bag your clippings make life so much easier. However, with wet grass this often isn’t the case. In fact, it’s better to side discharge your clippings under these conditions. This is because you’re less likely to experience clumping and clogging, but you will need to do some extra clean up once you’re done.
Clean Up After
Even if you’ve taken all of the steps listed above it’s still important that you clean your mower after you mow wet grass. This is because wet grass sticks to everything. This moisture can be trapped against the bottom of the mower or on the blades creating mold, rust, and other problems for your mower. In fact, this is probably the most important step if you’re planning on mowing a wet lawn. So, make sure to spend some time cleaning the deck and blades of your mower well after every use.
